IOne of the things on my heart today as I write this has to do with the way God has designed us. I have touched previously on the concept of being created in the image of God and some of the ways that is obvious. We often overlook the most basic truths because we are looking for complex deep thoughts that we think will better define our relationship to our Creator. That is pure vanity on our part; God has not hid anything from us.  He is the great I AM and has given each of us the responsibility to be good stewards of the lives we have.

          Today I want to tell everyone out there that no matter where you are or what obstacles you face with your life you have hope. That hope was given to you as a part of the creation process. Now there are several different types of hope. The first of course is the hope we have of an eternity with God if we choose to trust in Jesus as our savior. That is the hope above all hope and things.  If you don't have that hope nailed down then stop reading right now and go get it fixed before you even try to understand the rest of this letter.  You can find a pastor to talk with or email me if you want to know how to have assurance of eternity in heaven.

If you already have that assurance, then let's moves on.   Over the years I have spent a lot of time with people that consider themselves handicapped in one way or another. Now there are a lot of different types of handicaps. There is the individual that can't walk, talk well, hear, speak very well, emotionally challenged, mentally impaired, etc.  But that is not all of the handicaps I have seen.  There are also those that consider themselves cursed, those that truly are cursed, and those that have complete negative attitudes, those which suffer from paranoia, those who won't hold themselves accountable for their actions, those who suffer from laziness, and so on. These are also crippling handicaps that have hope as well. These crippling handicaps are what this letter today is about.

 James 3:2-4

If someone does not stumble in what he says, he is a perfect individual, able to control the entire body as well.  Vs3- And if we put bits into the mouths of horses to get them to obey us, then we guide their entire bodies. Vs4- Look at ships too: though they are so large and driven by harsh winds, they are steered by a tiny rudder wherever the pilot's impulse directs.   

 My friends I want to ask you to go back and read those verses several times before moving on. Although there are a whole series of sermons in these three verses,  what I want to show you is how we can relate to those verses in relation to being created in Gods image.

          Genesis 1:1-3, the Holy Spirit moved upon the face of the deep, which generally is considered water, and said "Let there be light," God spoke the world into existence! One of the most powerful things that God gave us was the ability for us to speak our worlds into existence. I told someone that a while back, and was then challenged by her.  She told me there was no way she could be held accountable for the messed up world she was living in. I asked her who was responsible?  of which she had no answer other than "no one, it just happened!" If that were true then I want to say that evolution must also be true. But it is not true, God made us in His image and nothing just happens. All things are regulated by choices and decisions. Those things both good and bad control the worlds events, period!     Now the tongue is obviously one of those things that we use to put our choices on display. We regulate the largest share of our lives with the spoken word. Our own inner minds are controlled exclusively by our speech and thoughts. That is why some people can make themselves sick by just stating that they don't feel good.  Do you know anyone like that?  I sure do!  Anyway if you would take notice of the creation process.  If you notice after each segment of the creation process God would also make a statement of affirmation.  He would say proclaim "It was good"  Do you realize that those statements of affirmation from God are another example for us to follow?  Another great affirmation from God was when He told the world that Jesus is His son in which He is well pleased!  Think about that!  God affirming His own creation!  Do you think we are supposed to affirm our lives in a positive way as well?  You Bet!    Another affirmation that many of us are familiar with and is used often is the well-known word "Amen",  which can be translated simply as "so be it" or "and so it is".  This affirms the truth of whatever was written or said immediately prior - during the prayer. I believe that a lot of the reason for positive prayer answers is the fact that we continually affirm our prayers with a "So It Is" at the end.  There is great power in the mind and that power is unleashed by our thoughts and our tongues. Our relationship with God is there.  Our relationship with our families are there.  The keys to happiness, health, success, are all in our worlds that are controlled by our thoughts and our tongues. God designed us in this fashion and some of us have missed out on the simplicity of His creation.  I believe it is time to take a hold of our own worlds and steer our lives the way James talked of, by controlling our tongues. This is about more than gossip or idle chatter being destructive. This is about being self aware and affirming in our own lives the things that we should in order to be the best steward of what God has give you. Create your world!  It is what God made you for.  One final story as an example. I know many of you face incredible trials and challenges that seem impossible to overcome. I want to encourage you with this personal story about my mother.  I loved my mother very much. My young world revolved around her as does with most children as they grow into adulthood. My mother contracted multiple sclerosis at the age of 30. Before that she was a very active woman and somewhat athletic. As the years went by she became bitter about her situation. By the time she was 45 years old she told me that she was mad at God for Him allowing her to be sick. She had a complete mental breakdown at the age of 55 and then at the age of 63 she decided to tell me she hated God because He had taken her mother home to be with Him! I tried to talk with her but to no avail. One day I found someone much younger then her with the same disease. He was wheelchair bound which my mother was not at the time. He was happy and carefree. Someone had taken a picture of him sitting on the bottom of a lake in his wheel chair with complete scuba gear strapped to the back of the chair! He was living and having a great time doing it! I showed the picture to my mom and she became angry telling me that I did not understand. My friends, the truth is that she did not understand.  She had built a world for herself based in self pity.  She was affirming that she had to be unhappy.  That was the world she lived in.  She built it and it was hers.  It could have been so much better for her.  But she made a choice.  That is how God works in our lives.  What about your life?  Although my mother had accepted Jesus as a young person, she had rejected His love and leading most of her life. Bed ridden and deathly sick, a few weeks before she died I helped lead her in a prayer where she reaffirmed her faith and and had asked for forgiveness.  It appeared, at this point, she had understood the mistake she had made and subsequently what had happened to her life, but she was a little too late to see any change for the better in her life.  That is a shame but I am thankful for the fact that she will be in Heaven.  So far, In my world, I believe all of my family is in heaven.  I know she is there!   See how it works?   Until later, Dave